Modern newspaper racks are conventionally made of an aluminum frame, a transparent, three-sided, polycarbonate shell, reinforced aluminum top, steel door and armor head for holding coins and a coin-operated, mechanical device.
The polycarbonate shell is used because it has high toughness and strength and good formability. Its transparency permits the newspaper distributor to see the remaining supply of papers to determine whether the supply should be supplemented. The polycarbonate shell is usually painted at the rack factory with the newspaper's name and colors on its interior sides. The painted surfaces are viewed from the exterior of the rack through the polycarbonate shell.
If a newspaper company decides to change the paint scheme of its racks, the polycarbonate shell must be removed and either the paint stripped off and the shell repainted, or a new shell purchased and painted. In either case, a significant cost is incurred and significant time is spent repainting or replacing the shell. The end result of changing the paint scheme is high cost, money not earned and newspapers not dispensed.
Due to the high cost associated with changing the painting schemes on the shells of racks, newspaper companies are discouraged from changing their promotions, advertisements, and colors. It is desirable to change these in order to follow changing campaigns and changes in surrounding colors.
Newspaper racks must exist in harsh conditions due to human abuse, weather, and a corrosive environment, and a display must be protected from these elements so as to remain appealing to the viewer. The polycarbonate shells used in newspaper racks usually have a pair of holes in the back of the rack, near the top, through which a chain or cable is fed and fastened to a sturdy object to prevent theft. Rain and snow can easily pass through these holes, usually contacting the interior surface of the shell. Additionally, salty air near saltwater can also pass through not only the holes, but also any small crevices where dissimilar materials of which the rack is formed join, allowing an extremely corrosive environment to exist within the rack. Any display must survive all of these conditions and maintain its appearance in order to be considered suitable for a newspaper rack.
Gifford, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,452,873, discloses a garbage container having display cards inserted into opposing slots formed on the exterior of the container. Not only are the display cards located on the exterior of the machine where they can easily be removed by vandals, but they are each a single flat panel, each held in place by its own pair of opposing slots which would not be adaptable to use in a conventional newspaper rack without extensive modification to the rack. Additionally, the display cards are not described as having any weather resistance, making their placement on the exterior of the container unsuited to typical newspaper rack locations.
Williams, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,160, describes a display apparatus for attachment on the interior of a door of a newspaper machine. The display apparatus is for use within a newspaper machine, but has the disadvantage of requiring a person to purchase a newspaper in order for the person to view the display. Additionally, the display apparatus is substantially smaller than the displays conventionally painted on the interior surface of the newspaper racks.
Kay, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,756, discloses a garbage container having four doors, each of which opens outwardly of the container and has an interior display door into which a poster or other display item is inserted. While the garbage container is for use in the outdoor environment, and as such is described as weatherproof, the use of four separate doors to form a multi-sided display makes the display apparatus particularly unadaptable for a conventional newspaper rack, due to the construction of conventional newspaper racks.
There is a need for a means and method of exhibiting a display from a newspaper rack that is more easily, quickly and less expensively changed and which is readily able to be used in conventional racks without modification.